The root cause of Zimbabwe’s devastating economic meltdown is the country’s failure to remove this corrupt and incompetent Zanu PF dictatorship from office. Ever since our independence in 1980, Zanu PF has rigged elections to stay in office.
39 years and counting of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption have left the country’s once promising economy in ruins. Unemployment has soared to dizzying heights of 90%, basic service such as health care have all but collapsed, etc.; 3/4 of the population now live in abject poverty. The situation is intolerable!
It is infuriating that Zanu PF has denied Zimbabweans their basic right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country and thus the right to remove this failed government. What makes it worse is that the opposition has become Zanu PF’s partner in this heinous crime by participating in the flawed and illegal elections and thus giving the process credibility!
are the ones who are making it easy for Zanu PF to rig elections and get away with it by participating in these flawed and illegitimate elections.
"They (rural voters) are under siege economically, the headmen are chief whips of Zanu-PF and the villagers are being threatened that if they vote for the opposition, they will be denied food handouts," said Jacob Mafume, MDC Secretary for elections.
"There is no food in the rural areas, no money, the people rely on government and donor handouts which they are made to believe are coming from Zanu-PF."
This was MDC’s excuse for losing the last weekend’s Zaka East parliamentary by-elections. MDC has lost all the rural by-elections just as the party lost last year’s parliamentary and presidential elections. Zanu PF use the same dirty tricks to coerce rural voter last weekend as were used last year and in all past elections.
Indeed, Mafume was not telling us anything we did not already know about Zanu PF rigging elections. What is more, Mafume and his fellow MDC leaders knew with no meaningful reforms in place Zanu PF would rig the elections.
MDC leaders had their best chance to implement the reforms to stop the vote rigging during the 2008 to 2013 GNU. Mugabe bribed them with the trappings of high office and MDC took their eyes off the ball, they failed to implement even one reform. And ever since, MDC leaders knew they would never get Zanu PF to implement the reforms and have participated in the elections even when it was clear Zanu PF would rig the elections.
Zanu PF has allowed the opposition to win a few seat to entice them to participate and it is these scraps the MDC and the rest in the opposition camp have been after. A few MDC leaders like David Coltart have admitted that it is greed that makes them participate in flawed elections.
“The worst aspect for me about the failure to agree a coalition was that both MDCs couldn’t now do the obvious – withdraw from the elections,” explained Senator Coltart.
“The electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu PF to account. But such was the distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process credibility.”
Instead of admitting that MDC does not care that elections are rigged and they are participating out of greed the party’s official position is that they would “win rigged elections”, as Obert Gutu, then MDC party’s spokesman, said before 2018 elections.
“MDC has stringent measures to stop Zanu PF rigging the (2018) elections,” chipped in Nelson Chamisa. As we know, Zanu PF blatantly rigged those elections.
“MDC has identified the Zanu PF manipulation patterns and will educate the rural folk, create alternatives, delink State process from political party processes and come 2023, the opposition will be able to reverse the voting patterns,” continued Jacob Mafume.
This is just the party’s latest excuse why MDC is going to participate in the 2023 elections with no meaningful reforms in place.
Zimbabweans must now accept that the right to free, fair and credible elections is more than just an abstract right, it is the basis for good governance and the country’s only chance to end the economic meltdown.
To have free and fair elections we must first of all implement the democratic reforms designed to stop Zanu PF rigging elections. And it is none other than MDC and the rest of the sell-out opposition who are stopping us implementing the reforms by participating in the flawed and illegal elections.
The people of Zimbabwe wake-up to the reality that MDC leaders are not going to implement any reforms and deliver free, fair and credible elections and formulate a plan B. We must accept that MDC leaders are running with the hare and hunting with the hounds and have been doing so ever since they sold-out during the 2008 GNU.
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Ever since MDC leaders sold-out during the 2008 GNU and failed to implement even one democratic reform, they have given one feeble excuse after another for participating in elections knowing Zanu PF was rigging. The opposition also knew that Zanu PF would give away a few gravy-train seats as bait; these are all MDC leaders have been after.
If Zimbabweans are serious about having free, fair and credible elections; then they have to accept that they must come up with a new plan to get the reform implemented. MDC leaders have given up on getting reforms implemented and so are coming up with all manner of excuses for participating in elections with no reforms.
Zanu PF chefs are renowned for not paying their electricity bills, getting generous loans from the banks which they then failed to repay, getting generous contracts from government and parastatals, importing cars without pay a dollar tax, etc., etc. It is little wonder their business ventures were booming whilst everyone else's businesses were coughing blood!
It is no wonder the chefs' businesses were in serious trouble as soon as the individual's political influence started to wane or decisively put as happen when one is booted out of the party.
Just a few months after the military coup the late Mugabe was complaining that his Blue Roof mansion was not being repaired. He had never paid the bill himself for anything and must have been shocked when he had to pay for it himself!
There are reports of the gold panners Grace drove off one of the farm she seized are now back again!
Of course, she is worried sick that she will not be able to hold on to the huge fortune Mugabe had amassed, especially since she cannot do so without the generous public subsidies! If the nation has no money to buy pain killers for a big hospital like Parerenyatwa it is nonsense that one dollar should be wasted in maintain a private mansion much less in hiring private jets for an individual!
Corruption is the root cause of the economic meltdown and not the sanctions. The sanctions are helping pressure Zanu PF to hold free, fair and credible elections and hence the reason they must and will stay!
The economic meltdown is the added pressure for democratic change. Zanu PF rigged the economy but cannot rig economic recovery!
What Zanu PF needs is a jingle to rig economic recovery! It is the economy stupid that is bringing down this Zanu PF dictatorship.
Corruption is the root cause of the economic meltdown and not the sanctions. The sanctions are helping pressure Zanu PF to hold free, fair and credible elections and hence the reason they must and will stay!
The economic meltdown is the added pressure for democratic change. Zanu PF rigged the economy but cannot rig economic recovery!
The people of Zimbabwe came to the conclusion that Zanu PF was rigging the elections and to stop it the country needed to implement democratic changes. MDC was formed and got the people's support on the basis the party would bring about those democratic changes as the party's name implied. The people have risk life and limb to elect the late MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai and his friends into power on the strength they will bring about those changes.
The fact of the matter is MDC has failed to deliver even one democratic change in the party’s 20 year history. Not one!
MDC had many golden opportunities to implement the reforms, with the best coming during the 2008 to 2013 GNU, but wasted them all. Mugabe bribe the MDC leaders during the GNU with generous salaries and allowances, ministerial limos, a former white-owned farm for Welshman Ncube, a US$4 million mansion for Tsvangirai, etc. And MDC leaders with the snouts in the feeding trough forgot about the democratic changes.
Ever since the GNU MDC leaders have paid lip service to democratic changes, they have given up getting any reform implemented. When pressured to answer why they keep participating in flawed and illegal elections and thus giving Zanu PF some modicum of legitimacy; they have proffered one farfetched strategy to winning rigged elections after another.
Instead of boycotting elections until reforms are implemented MDC is now offering to “educate the voters” on ways to counter the Zanu PF siege. They have not offered the voters no such lessons in the past because there no such lessons. None!
Zimbabwe is in a serious economic and political mess and the country needs a competent government to get out of the mess. The country needs to implement the democratic reforms and stop wasting time on gimmicky strategies designed to keep Zanu PF in power with MDC as poodle opposition party!
@ Mrehwa
“If Zimbabwe had used all resources directed towards elections since 1985 this country would have been somewhere ELECTIONS ARE A WASTE OF TIME !!!!!! you can say aaaa but that is true.”
Yes elections have been a waste of time and resources in so far as there have been rigged and thus a fraudulent rubber stamping process.
Of course, there would be something to show for it if the money wasted in these elections were wisely invested but that beggars the question; how do you know it would have been wisely invested and not wasted as happened with mountain of resources so wasted.
Democratic accountability is the only sure way the people have to check those in public office are using the nation’s resources wisely. And the ability to remove a failed leader from office in a free, fair and credible elections is the ultimate democratic expression of the people’s power.
By denying the people a meaningful vote, Zanu PF has usurped the people’s democratic right to hold the regime to account. The people’s response should not be to denounce elections as a waste of time and money but to demand that the illegitimate Zanu PF regime must step down and an interim administration appointed to restore the people’s usurped freedoms and rights, hold free and fair elections and restore legitimacy and rule of law.
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